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Celebrity Edge becomes first large cruise ship to sail from a U.S. port in 15 months

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 June 2021 28 June 2021

"Today marks the rebirth of our company and our industry, as our beautiful Celebrity Edge sets sail on a new-luxury experience that will – once again – feed peoples’ love of travel.” Those were the inspirational words tweeted from Celebrity Cruises’ President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo on June 26, as the Celebrity Edge prepared to sail from Ft. Lauderdale at 6.00pm ET, becoming the first large cruise ship to sail from a U.S. port in more than a year.

What seems only fitting, now, 15 months after being at the helm of history for the first all-female bridge and officer team sailing in March 2020 and the last sailing before the industry was put on pause, Captain Kate McCue, the first and still only American female to captain a major cruise ship, now leads the fleet – and the industry – back into operation from Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades. The ship set sails for Mexico and the Bahamas.

Rarely has a 7-night cruise of the Caribbean come with such symbolism and hope, but there is no underestimating that this is an historic moment for the brand as it cruises back to normal. Celebrity Edge was given the green light - and the honor - to be the first ship back in the water, having met all new standards for providing a healthy and safe cruise experience for its guests and crew.

“This is a momentous sailing and one that we have been preparing for a long time. It’s not only a huge honor to be the first ship back in the water, leading the industry in the long-awaited return to U.S.-based cruising, it’s also an incredible achievement and testament to the tireless efforts of our shoreside team and onboard crew”, said Richard Fain, Chairman of the Royal Caribbean Group, the parent company of Celebrity Cruises. “Travel is a powerful catalyst for positive change in our world. There’s nothing more enriching in life than exposing yourself to new cultures, sights, and experiences… and nothing more luxurious than doing it on board a Celebrity cruise ship,” he added. “All that’s left to say is welcome aboard.”

“The significance of this moment is not lost on anyone on our team or the industry. We have longed for this day, not only because it represents a return to service and doing what we love to do most, but because we know that for many the return of cruising is a symbol of the world’s return to normalcy,” said Brian Abel, Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations for Celebrity Cruises. “For too long, we’ve had to encourage one another with dreams of ‘someday’ returning to being together, again. Now, as the world opens up, and we can gather and enjoy our families and friends on an amazing cruise vacation, ‘someday’ is here.”

“The week after our entire industry was grounded, last March, I started a #HopeFloats tradition of blowing the ship’s horn every evening to let the world know that not only were we safe, but we were thinking of those at home and hoping the same for them, said Captain McCue. “Now, the sound of a ship’s horn symbolizes rising above from any hardship. The entire crew is so happy to be back and we can’t wait to welcome our guests aboard!”

With Saturday’s sailing, eight of the 14 ships within the Celebrity Cruises’ fleet now have plans to return to sailing in 2021 and are ready to take guests to breathtaking destinations, from the Caribbean to Europe, Alaska and the Galapagos, including:

P&O Cruises and Saga Cruises resume operations over weekend

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 June 2021 28 June 2021

Two British cruise lines resumed operations during the weekend, in line with announcements they had made earlier.

The first guests in 15 months were welcomed by P&O Cruises on Sunday as Britannia departed Southampton for a four night summer sailing around the UK coast.

P&O Cruises ships anchored locally, Ventura, Arcadia and Aurora, and those of sister brand Cunard, Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, celebrated the occasion with a horn-sounding departure salute as Britannia left the Port of Southampton at 6pm and sailed down the Solent. Both P&O Cruises adds Cunard are parts of the Carnival group.

Britannia will sail a series of three, four and seven night UK coastal cruises until September 25 when western Mediterranean itineraries will commence prior to her winter Caribbean season.

Iona’s maiden voyage will be on August 7 and she will then sail weekly seven night scenic coastal cruises, before beginning Atlantic coast holidays, the company said in a statement..

Meanwhile, Saga Cruises’ Spirit of Discovery that was delivered to the company in July 2019, also returned to service as it sailed from Tilbury Docks on Sunday. It will call first at Portsmouth on June 28, Portland on June 29, the Isles of Scilly on June 30 and Falmouth on July 1, the company said in a statement.

Windstar Cruises resumes operations in Greece

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 June 2021 25 June 2021

U.S. headquartered small ship cruise line Windstar Cruises is cruising again with vaccinated guests and crew on board. The first voyage set sail on June 19 from Athens, with the 148-maximum guest, four-masted sailing yacht Wind Star embarking on a 7-night roundtrip voyage to the Greek Isles. With the opportunity to visit Nafplio, Monemvasia, and Patmos, as well as the legendary islands of Santorini and Mykonos, guests on board have a chance to explore ports both on their own as well as on Windstar shore excursions. Windstar plans for the yacht to sail the itinerary on near-weekly dates through October.

Windstar is returning to operations in a phased manner, with its fleet of six yachts debuting on various dates through November, while requiring vaccines of all passengers amongst a host of health and safety precautions including testing, social distancing, masks, and high-tech air filtration. All of Windstar’s crew aboard Wind Star have been vaccinated, and Windstar is ensuring that crew are vaccinated on all Windstar yachts when they begin sailing on revenue cruises with guests. Windstar was among the first cruise lines to require vaccinations for guests, with a goal of full crew vaccinations. Procuring doses for Windstar’s primarily international crew has been challenging, but line officials have now successfully sourced vaccinations for crew aboard all six yachts.

MSC Cruises and Fincantieri celebrate MSC Seascape coin ceremony

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 June 2021 24 June 2021

A traditional coin ceremony for MSC Cruises’ second Seaside EVO class ship was held today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy where the keel was laid, the Geneva based cruise line said in a statement.

The name of the new ship was revealed – MSC Seascape – and pays homage to the beauty of the ocean and demonstrates the ways in which guests will be able to enjoy the stunning sea views from the ship thanks to the innovative design features.

Long-standing employees Monica Somma, Category Manager – Retail, MSC Cruises and Jolette Vincenzi – Production Supervisor from Fincantieri performed the traditional maritime ritual as godmothers when they placed two coins within the ship’s keel as an historical sign of blessing and good fortune for the construction of the ship and her future life at sea.

The ship is designed to connect guests with the sea through the ship’s innovative design features including 13,000m2 of outdoor space. Scheduled to enter service in November 2022 the 169,400 GT ship will be able to accommodate 5,877 guests, MSC Cruises said.

Photo credit Ivan Sarfatti

Carnival second quarter loss steady at $2.1 billion, sees 42 ships in service by end-November

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 June 2021 24 June 2021

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping company, has reported a deep net loss for the second quarter and said it expects to have more than half of its capacity in service by the end of its financial year on 30 November.

The company reported a net loss of $.2.1 billion for three months ended 31 May, little changed from the $2.0 billion loss in the previous quarter, the company said in a statement.

Booking volumes for all future cruises during the second quarter were 45% higher than booking volumes during the previous three month period.

Deposits for new bookings exceed refunds in quarter

Cumulative advanced bookings for full year 2022 are ahead of a very strong 2019 as of May 31. The company highlights that this level of bookings was achieved with minimal advertising and marketing,” the company said, adding that due to the pause in guest cruise operations, the company's current booking trends will be compared to booking trends for 2019 sailings.

Total customer deposits as of May 31 rose to $2.5 billion from $2.2 billion at the end of the first quarter. “During the quarter, customer deposits on new bookings exceeded the impact of refunds provided,” the company said.

Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein noted: "We ended the second quarter with $9.3 billion of cash and short-term investments. We believe we have sufficient liquidity to get us back to full operations and continue to be focused on pursuing refinancing opportunities to reduce interest rates and extend maturities. To date, through our refinancing efforts, we have reduced our future annual interest expense by over $120 million per year and expect to increase our near-term liquidity by $1.0 billion."

Staged resumption of services to continue

Eight of the company's nine brands either have resumed or have announced they plan to resume guest cruise operations by the company's fiscal year end, November 30.

The company envisages that 27 ships, or approximately 35% of capacity, will have resumed or are announced to resume by the end of the third quarter of 2021 and an additional 15 ships, or nearly 20% of capacity, are announced to resume by the end of the final quarter of the company’s financial year.

Together these 42 ships represent over 50% of capacity, the company said.

Consistent with the company's planned phased resumption of guest cruise operations, it expects to have its full fleet back in operation in the spring of 2022.